Bedford Hills Correctional Facility

The facility at Bedford Hills originated with a law of 1892 (Chapter 637), "An Act to provide for the establishment of a reformatory for women, and making an appropriation therefor." The reformatory, to be known as the "reformatory for women," was to be located in New York or Westchester County. The governor was to appoint five state residents, including at least two women, as a board of managers who were to purchase land and buy or construct buildings. When construction was completed, the board was to appoint a female superintendent (amended by Laws of 1921, Chapter 485 so that the superintendent did not have to be female) and to provide county clerks with blank forms to use when committing women to the reformatory. Females between 16 and 30 years old who were convicted of any misdemeanor or felony except murder, manslaughter, burglary, or arson, and who were not mentally or physically incapable of benefiting from the facility, could be committed for from three to five years, unless released earlier by the board of managers. The official committing the woman was to record her name, age, birthplace, occupation, last place of residence, and crime; and to submit a copy of this record to the superintendent. A law of 1899 (Chapter 632) set the lowest age at 15 and the maximum term as three years. When the reformatory was complete, women from the 1st judicial district and Westchester, Kings, Queens, Nassau, Suffolk, and Richmond Counties could be committed. The facility was opened in 1901. The reformatory was under the jurisdiction of the State Board of Charities. The State Charities Law of 1909 (Chapter 57) stated that women from the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 9th judicial districts could be committed. An amendment to this law the following year (Laws of 1910, Chapter 449) changed the name of this facility to the New York State Reformatory for Women. The same year, another law (Chapter 659) further authorized commitment of women age 16-30 from New York City who were convicted of habitual drunkenness, prostitution, or vagrancy. In 1920 (Chapter 774), a "division for mentally defective women" was established. The term for women committed to this division was to be indefinite, the women remaining in custody until released or discharged by the board of managers. In 1926 (Chapter 606), an amendment to the State Departments law established the Department of Correction, which assumed jurisdiction over the facilities at Bedford Hills. The board of managers was now to be known as the board of visitors. The following year a law (Chapter 158) required the superintendent to submit to the Department of Correction monthly estimates of expenses for the next month, as required in Section 126 of the Prison Law. The treasurer of the institution was to submit to the department a monthly statement of receipts and expenditures. In 1931 (Chapter 434), part of the Bedford Hills site replaced Auburn as the state prison for women. Women prisoners from Auburn were transferred to Bedford Hills, and any woman age 16-30 who was convicted of a felony and sentenced to at least a year could be sent here. The State Prison for Women at Bedford Hills was run as an administrative branch of the New York State Reformatory for Women, but accounts were to be kept separately. The same year (Chapter 456), the division for mentally defective women was transferred to the Albion State Training School, which then became known as the "Institution for Mentally Defective Delinquent Women." In 1932 (Chapter 302), the name of the reformatory at Bedford Hills was changed to "Westfield State Farm," and the accounts of this unit and the prison were combined. Since 1971, the prison has been operated as a general confinement institution as defined in the Laws of 1970 (Chapter 476), being a facility for the confinement, treatment, education, and vocational training of inmates. The maximum through minimum security facilities at Bedford Hills are collectively known as the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. The prison section now houses male convicts.